My brother-in-law Philip recently asked me to blog about some of the foods that Greg and I like to make. We definitely have some favorites, and we are happy to share! We try to eat healthily (usually), and this is particularly easy in the summer when the veggies are bursting forth from our garden. But we manage even when we can't go out to the backyard to grab a fresh tomato or carrot--though I can't wait until we can do so again!
A few of our go-to meals:
*Soups & stews of all kinds. Greg doesn't often use recipes, and loves to see what delectable dish he can make out of whatever it is we have in the kitchen. Our soups often have tomatoes (we have to use those 40 quarts we canned last summer, after all!), potatoes (so hearty!), onions, and garlic, and beyond that we throw in whatever other supplements we may have lying around--broccoli, mushrooms, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, beets, etc. Occasionally we'll add some venison or bison or chorizo (the local grocery store has some amazing in-house chorizo, and Italian sausage, too--yum!).
*Another good soup base is lentils. A bunch of lentils with onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and a splash of red wine makes a darned good soup. And you can always add a little bacon or sausage and make it even better. Mmm. Bacon.
*Then there's always the chili option--red beans and black beans and pinto beans, tomatoes, corn, and peppers, onions, garlic, etc. If we want a little extra flavor, we use Better Than Boullion paste rather than boullion cubes--more real flavor and less salt (though there's still quite a bit of sodium in there). And of course you can make your own stock with leftover vegetable parts--onion ends, leek ends, carrot ends, etc.--just toss them in a bag in the freezer until there's enough to make a good stock, and then boil it all up, skim off the foam, let simmer for half an hour or so, and strain out the veggie bits, and you've got some nice stock to use for your next soup-making endeavor!
*Frittatas and other eggy dishes. All our chickens are laying again, so we have quite a lot more eggs than we had this winter! Greg made an amazing frittata tonight, with potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, onions, garlic, and feta cheese. YUM. We also like making potato-y-eggy breakfasts--dicing potatoes, frying them up with onions and garlic and spinach and kale and whatever else we may have on hand, and then adding eggs (and usually some cheese) for a nice scramble, with fresh tomatoes and avocado on top. YUM again.
*Stir-fries. Another delightfully simply and endlessly creative dish, just throwing in whatever veggies you have available: broccoli, peppers, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, along with a little soy sauce, and serving it over rice or a rice-quinoa mix. We always combine quinoa with rice in the rice cooker--it's healthy to have some variety, and boy oh boy does it taste good. You can go for a curry flavor and add spices like coriander, turmeric, cumin, ginger, mustard, garam masala, etc.; you can also marinate thin strips of meat in a mixture of minced garlic (2-4 cloves), sliced ginger root (1 inch), soy sauce (1 1/2 Tbl), salt (1/4 tsp), pepper (1/4 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), and cooking sherry (1 Tbl), and, after marinating it for at least an hour or so, add cornstarch (1 Tbl), oil (1 Tbl) and a dash of water and then cook it up. Stir fry the veggies first, then remove them; fry up the meat in a little oil, and then add the veggies back in, and, once they're heated through, serve up your meal!
*One of my favorite dishes is Chicken with Peanut Sauce, from the Extending the Table cookbook. It's simple and delicious, and you can't beat the taste of peanuts--yum. Here's the recipe:
Heat 2 Tbl oil in large saucepan. Fry 1-2 pounds of cut up chicken in the oil until cooked through, then remove and set aside. Next, fry 1 large onion, sliced, and 1-5 cloves of garlic. Add 1 cup of tomatoes (fresh or canned, and I usually add more like 2 or 3 cups), 1/4 cup of tomato paste (which I usually omit, because I once had a traumatic experience with tomato paste, though not with this recipe), and a 1/2 cup peanut butter (I don't recommend Jiffy or whatever--way too sugary--go for the organic/natural stuff, or, better yet, grind 1/2 a cup of peanuts in the blender/food processor). Add 1 cup of water gradually and stir to make a smooth sauce, and then add 1-2 bay leaves and 1 tsp salt. Cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Return chicken to sauce, stirring to coat the pieces well. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, adding water if it's too thick. Serve over rice (or a rice and quinoa blend).
*Burritos. Our absolute favorite (and I have Greg to thank for introducing me to this!!) is black bean and sweet potato burritos--possibly one of the most delicious foods ever. Heat the black beans by themselves, or cook them up with onions and garlic, and peel, cube and boil the sweet potatoes until soft, and then put them into hard or soft shells, along with kale or spinach, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, sour cream, cheese . . .
*Most of our comfort foods revolve around cheese. Mmm, cheese. We make quesadillas now and again--it's an easy meal, and easy to add lots of veggies to: spinach, kale, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, black beans. Or we'll make a big tray of nachos, with tortilla chips, black beans, refried beans, onions, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, avocados and the rest, and shredded cheese on top, baked in the oven at low temps for 15ish minutes. If we just don't feel like making a more involved meal, we'll make a box (or two) of Annie's mac & cheese, and mix in some veggies--broccoli or tomato slices or avocado or mushrooms--which comes close to turning it into a gourmet meal.
Hmm, I think I may be getting a bit hungry . . . it might be time for a tiny, evening-snack-sized portion of frittata.
What are YOUR favorite homemade meals?
A few of our go-to meals:
*Soups & stews of all kinds. Greg doesn't often use recipes, and loves to see what delectable dish he can make out of whatever it is we have in the kitchen. Our soups often have tomatoes (we have to use those 40 quarts we canned last summer, after all!), potatoes (so hearty!), onions, and garlic, and beyond that we throw in whatever other supplements we may have lying around--broccoli, mushrooms, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, beets, etc. Occasionally we'll add some venison or bison or chorizo (the local grocery store has some amazing in-house chorizo, and Italian sausage, too--yum!).
*Another good soup base is lentils. A bunch of lentils with onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, and a splash of red wine makes a darned good soup. And you can always add a little bacon or sausage and make it even better. Mmm. Bacon.
*Then there's always the chili option--red beans and black beans and pinto beans, tomatoes, corn, and peppers, onions, garlic, etc. If we want a little extra flavor, we use Better Than Boullion paste rather than boullion cubes--more real flavor and less salt (though there's still quite a bit of sodium in there). And of course you can make your own stock with leftover vegetable parts--onion ends, leek ends, carrot ends, etc.--just toss them in a bag in the freezer until there's enough to make a good stock, and then boil it all up, skim off the foam, let simmer for half an hour or so, and strain out the veggie bits, and you've got some nice stock to use for your next soup-making endeavor!
*Frittatas and other eggy dishes. All our chickens are laying again, so we have quite a lot more eggs than we had this winter! Greg made an amazing frittata tonight, with potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, onions, garlic, and feta cheese. YUM. We also like making potato-y-eggy breakfasts--dicing potatoes, frying them up with onions and garlic and spinach and kale and whatever else we may have on hand, and then adding eggs (and usually some cheese) for a nice scramble, with fresh tomatoes and avocado on top. YUM again.
*Stir-fries. Another delightfully simply and endlessly creative dish, just throwing in whatever veggies you have available: broccoli, peppers, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, along with a little soy sauce, and serving it over rice or a rice-quinoa mix. We always combine quinoa with rice in the rice cooker--it's healthy to have some variety, and boy oh boy does it taste good. You can go for a curry flavor and add spices like coriander, turmeric, cumin, ginger, mustard, garam masala, etc.; you can also marinate thin strips of meat in a mixture of minced garlic (2-4 cloves), sliced ginger root (1 inch), soy sauce (1 1/2 Tbl), salt (1/4 tsp), pepper (1/4 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), and cooking sherry (1 Tbl), and, after marinating it for at least an hour or so, add cornstarch (1 Tbl), oil (1 Tbl) and a dash of water and then cook it up. Stir fry the veggies first, then remove them; fry up the meat in a little oil, and then add the veggies back in, and, once they're heated through, serve up your meal!
*One of my favorite dishes is Chicken with Peanut Sauce, from the Extending the Table cookbook. It's simple and delicious, and you can't beat the taste of peanuts--yum. Here's the recipe:
Heat 2 Tbl oil in large saucepan. Fry 1-2 pounds of cut up chicken in the oil until cooked through, then remove and set aside. Next, fry 1 large onion, sliced, and 1-5 cloves of garlic. Add 1 cup of tomatoes (fresh or canned, and I usually add more like 2 or 3 cups), 1/4 cup of tomato paste (which I usually omit, because I once had a traumatic experience with tomato paste, though not with this recipe), and a 1/2 cup peanut butter (I don't recommend Jiffy or whatever--way too sugary--go for the organic/natural stuff, or, better yet, grind 1/2 a cup of peanuts in the blender/food processor). Add 1 cup of water gradually and stir to make a smooth sauce, and then add 1-2 bay leaves and 1 tsp salt. Cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Return chicken to sauce, stirring to coat the pieces well. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, adding water if it's too thick. Serve over rice (or a rice and quinoa blend).
*Burritos. Our absolute favorite (and I have Greg to thank for introducing me to this!!) is black bean and sweet potato burritos--possibly one of the most delicious foods ever. Heat the black beans by themselves, or cook them up with onions and garlic, and peel, cube and boil the sweet potatoes until soft, and then put them into hard or soft shells, along with kale or spinach, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, sour cream, cheese . . .
*Most of our comfort foods revolve around cheese. Mmm, cheese. We make quesadillas now and again--it's an easy meal, and easy to add lots of veggies to: spinach, kale, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, black beans. Or we'll make a big tray of nachos, with tortilla chips, black beans, refried beans, onions, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, avocados and the rest, and shredded cheese on top, baked in the oven at low temps for 15ish minutes. If we just don't feel like making a more involved meal, we'll make a box (or two) of Annie's mac & cheese, and mix in some veggies--broccoli or tomato slices or avocado or mushrooms--which comes close to turning it into a gourmet meal.
Hmm, I think I may be getting a bit hungry . . . it might be time for a tiny, evening-snack-sized portion of frittata.
What are YOUR favorite homemade meals?
I just made egg foo yung again the other day for the first time in years, and now I realize why we had it so often growing up-- it's one of the cheapest meals I've ever made, especially since we are swimming in 12 hens' worth of eggs right now!
ReplyDeleteAn additional benefit was that everyone loved it!
Beat 8 eggs, add 1 finely chopped small onion and 1 finely chopped celery stalk. Add a splash of soy sauce and a sprinkle of salt. Fry in a small amount of peanut oil by 1/4cupfuls.
Sauce: 1/4c. soy sauce, 1T cornstarch, 2t. sugar, 2t. vinegar, 3/4c. chicken broth. Cook and stir until thick.
Serve egg foo yung rolled up with hot brown rice and sauce.
Have you tried the Meat-Potato Quiche from the More-With-Less cookbook? It sounds right up your alley (cheese, potatoes, bacon...)! :)
You also have me curious about the mishap with the tomato sauce!
I debated responding on FB rather than here; maybe I'll do both. :) Wendy, thanks for the egg foo yung recipe! I've never tried making it, and it sounds easy and delicious. And the meat-potato quiche sounds spectacular, but we don't have the More-With-Less cookbook, but I'll bet I can find the recipe online. Thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteThe traumatic tomato paste experience happened when I was living in Chicago. My roommate and I didn't have much food in the apartment, but it was late and we were hungry so we were scrounging around trying to make do with what we had. We decided to make pasta, but realized, too late, that we had only a tiny bit of pasta sauce, so we tried to make up the difference with watered-down tomato paste. UGH. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. It was awful. We ended up throwing it out and going to bed hungry. Blech. Used correctly, I know tomato paste is good, but I still shudder when I think about that meal attempt. :P